BENGALURU: Bengaluru Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda told TNIE that he hopes to inspire civic officials and contractors to perform their projects honestly on site. “Contractors are a necessary part of development, which is why accountability must apply to them too. We have to convince them to be positive contributors. It will hopefully lead to better governance and better delivery of services to people,” he said.
During an inspection in Sampangiramnagar recently, he found work to be sub-standard, which prompted him to direct the Bengaluru Central City Corporation (BCCC) to suspend the assistant engineer concerned. The AE, Poojarappa, who was supposed to oversee the asphalting work, was allegedly colluding with the contractor, who failed to ensure the correct proportion of asphalt mix. The contractor was also blacklisted.
He said, “I will visit different parts of the city and check ongoing works and their quality. Inspections alone will not solve the problem. They are part of efforts to improve the system.”
“Some accountability has to be brought into the system. We are open to suggestions from everyone. We will try to work with all stakeholders for a better Bengaluru,” he said, asked if Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya’s demands were feasible.
Surya’s has demanded a white paper within 30 days on the funds spent on road repair works over the last three years, and a live infrastructure dashboard within 60 days with a timeline, budgets, and contractors before the next Rs 2,000 crore is allocated towards road work.
Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has allocated Rs 2,000 crore to develop roads across all Assembly constituencies in the city. The roads will be taken up based on suggestions made by ward level officials and elected representatives.